That said, he is perhaps a good example of an edge rusher who does have issues relating to his lack of total body strength, which I believe is why he finds himself stood up on occasion rather than short arms (t0:53, 1:03, 2:20, 4:48, 6:45, 7:20, 8:11, 8:53 When comparing him to Irvin (which will probably be the starting point for many discussions of the various DE prospects throughout this next season) you can start to respect Bruce’s strength a bit more. After Seattle made the pick, many talking head analysts immediately jumped on the “he’s going to be pushed around at next level/not strong enough” rhetoric after simply reading his physical stats.

Yet when watching his tape, I found Bruce to be quite competent in pushing back a blocker one-on-one once they were locked up. This ability may be a result of his limited pass rush repertoire, as without a quality spin-move, Bruce found himself in shoving matches more often than he probably would have liked, yet gaining valuable experience while doing so. Bark’s array of moves and quality technique allow him to initiate another “move” the moment a blocker has him lined up, which I assume is what you’d like to see (t1:28, 2:03, 4:07*, 7:45) It’s not written in stone, merely something I picked up on and this is just three games. There are a few occasions where he successfully bull rushes (t3:30). But the point is, in my humble opinion, this is a guy who will at times suffer from lack of power at the point of attack.

Another weakness I noticed in Mingo during the Auburn and Miss St. games, was his propensity to run himself out of some plays. While running various quarterback runs, bubble screens and options, those offenses found ways to negate Mingo without committing a blocker. Obviously on quick read plays offenses can sometimes get away with doing that, but it’s something to keep an eye on as to whether Mingo can find ways to make an impact in those situations. On the plus side, and this will definitely help him come combine month, he looked natural dropping into coverage, staying light on his feet while keeping his head up and eyes moving. Anytime a smaller DE prospect drops into coverage, Mel Kiper slightly pisses himself.

Also, was it just me, or did Auburn have some really crappy tackles?

*At 4:06, they highlight Mingo as if he was the reason the play failed, but frankly the tackle does a great job standing him up and then moving his feet to negate Mingo’s spin and doesn’t give up any ground. The pocket collapsed from the other side.

If he falls to the second, I would love to draft him, but I don’t think that will happen, and if we draft another pass rusher in the first round, I’d prefer it be a more complete player like Jarvis Jones.

I really like Mingo. He sometimes gets stonewalled (short arms?) when engaging directly, but he’s special quick. His short area quickness might be better than Irvin’s. I also love his spin move and violent arms. Great snap recognition too. If the Seahawks are as good in 2012 as I think they’ll be, they’d be pretty lucky to have a shot at a talent like this without trading up.

The end result would have been a play with no gain instead of a loss. Not really much of an improvement but every yard counts!

Recall, that 2 years ago, Alex Gibbs was here to firmly establish the zone scheme. We had finally decided to cut bait on the man blockers we attempted to convert to a zone scheme under Solari. What did Gibbs say at the time?

“It takes about 2 years in the system to become functional at it”.

That was the beginning of 2010. And that year was a very tough year on the OL. Just as Gibbs had predicted. Even if he wasn’t still here.

We invested heavily in the OL in 2011. Literally, at the start of the offseason we had one player (Okung) that looks like he’d still be with the team. We had 4 gaping holes.

Max Unger was terrible in 2009. Didn’t play at all in 2010. Then after 2 years in the system — Boom! He looks nothing like the guy we saw fumbling about.

Strangely, the entire OL unit just seemed to magically get it after one season and change. Pretty much as Gibbs has predicted. And that’s generally a reality that other ZBS disciples concede. It simply takes time. But once that time is paid, you can plow in prospects year after year late in drafts and they can be quality interchangeable parts down the road.

We are just now in a position to reap the benefits of having paid our dues implementing this system. Our depth has shown to be amazingly productive, if predictable by ZBS adherents. The system doesn’t require massive draft or free agent investments to be productive. Obviously talent still helps a ton. But the system is designed to require coordination more than talent to execute.

It’s why we can take guys like a JR Sweezy as a project and be excited/intrigued by it. A no name afterthought of a prospect who in a year or two’s time begins producing like a day one or two pick.

It’s also worth noting, that we could be just a tad ruined in our expectations of what is needed on the OL. Our perceptions of what makes an acceptable OL is colored by Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. Two freaks of talent and should both be HOF inductees.

The ZBS system doesn’t need that kind of talent. But the natural byproduct of not having headline pro bowl talent — is that the quality always seems questionable. The scheme makes players much more anonymous. Like it’s done with smoke and mirrors.

Seattle was statistically a decent running team. This despite the fact that overall our offense was bad, we enjoyed fewer snaps than our opponents, and generally were not in a position to protect many leads. How much better could we have been if we extend just 3 possessions a game by better QB play to convert 3rd downs? Or if we weren’t always losing, or playing like we would soon be?

I think there are a lot of reasons to think this team will run the ball much better this season. The success we had after committing to it in earnest should improve it. The increased experience should improve it. The expectation that we won’t be giving up plays because our ability to extend series is nonexistent should help it. The fact that our defense should be able to get off the field, providing one or 2 more possessions per game should help it. Just a whole slew of reasons all point to a much better year this season. And not ALL of them have to come to pass for it to happen.

I agree the WR’s will be surprisingly good, especially with a QB that doesn’t suck.